Local News

Betts Big T has some septic system trouble and once again restaurateur Jamie Griffin was rebuffed by the Chiefland City Commission in his attempt to get the business online with city sewer service.

Griffin has broached the subject before saying sewer service would allow him to expand his restaurant in its current building. Regulations limit the number of seats in a restaurant in proportion to the septic tank capacity. He said he is the only restaurant in the city without that amenity.

A Suwannee River waterway cleanup will begin at 9 a.m. on Thursday, Oct. 20, from the Suwannee Community Center on County Road 349, opposite the Salt Creek Restaurant.

Power boats and paddled crafts will de-litter the local waterways starting at 9 a.m. Some canoes will be available courtesy of Gateway Marina. The Lower Suwannee National Wildlife Refuge will bring their boat down the river from Fowlers Bluff and pick up trash on the way,. There is room for 16 onboard. The hurricane left us plenty of work so please come.

The Chiefland City Commission has trashed its old way of seeking proposals for a five-year garbage collection contract because of problems in the process and will advertise a new proposal.

But the new proposal may still have some problems as two representatives, one of them an attorney, questioned the wording of certain parts of the proposal and the evaluation and awarding of the contract.

Every year in December, like clockwork, the photo arrives. It is the culmination of a year of preparation and work by the Levy County Horse Club Trailriders, Inc.

Every year, the Levy County Newspaper Group Chiefland Citizen, Williston Pioneer and Cedar Key Beacon, publishes what is known in the business as a “check passing photo” where the donor and recipient are smiling.

The Chiefland Police Department, the Chiefland and Suwannee Valley Rotary Clubs and Levy County IAFF Local 4069 are joining together to open the Chiefland Haunted House on Friday, Oct. 14, at the old Central Florida Electric Cooperative warehouse.

The CPD usually has a Halloween event on the city's trick-or-treat night but due to the excellent turn out last year, the officers decided the city needed a better, bigger experience.

Donald Lawrence had an out-of-state leaf-peeping trip planned for this week and he did not want to disappoint his wife, so he hit the road not knowing he would be chosen by the Chiefland City Commissioners to fill the late Teal Pomeroy's Group 2 seat.

Pomeroy, who was also mayor of Chiefland, died in a diving accident on Aug. 19. He had just been re-elected without opposition to the seat he had held since 2004 and had been mayor since 2009.

Levy County has been dropped from a Tropical Storm Warning to Watch status as of 11:26 Friday morning, good news for residents fearing the effects of Hurricane Matthew as he headed up the East Coast of Florida.

But, while the news is good, Levy County Emergency Management officials are asking residents to remain indoors due to the effects of the wind and rain, which can cause damage to power lines and trees.

The reason for the downgrade is a combination ot two moves by Hurricane Matthew in the last 24 hours:

Levy County Emergency Management is reminding all residents to be sure that they are prepared for the effects of Hurricane Matthew as it travels up Florida's Atlantic Coast.

But that could be difficult as gas stations in Williston and Bronson were reported to be out of fuel by 4 p.m. Thursday and Chiefland was being surveyed for supplies by emergency management officials. Trucks are expected to arrive to refuel the gas stations, as they did overnight.